THis used to happen to me before I started low-carbing. I would experience it frequently at night, after my sugar eating had ceased for the day.

This is from Dr. Atkins Super Energy Diet:

The most frequent disturbances in the rhythm of the heartbeat come on suddenly and are called paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (very rapid regular heartbeat) and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (chaotic irregularity). A common, less serious rhythm upset is premature (or skipped) beats.

You would be astounded to learn just how often they are correctable by a dietary program.

I learned about this when my first head nurse was constantly reporting to the hospital emergency room with attacks of paroxysmal tachycardia. I noted that she was a four-teaspoons-of-sugar-in-her-coffee-person and made her take a glucose tolerance test. Her curve showed the typical diabetic-hypoglycemic pattern. When we finally got her to avoid sweets, she stopped having the attacks.

More than half the patients who consult me for upsets in heart rhythm have reported vast improvement after going on the diet.

If you are subject to any of these heart rhythm disturbances, no medical investigation of your case could be considered thorough unless a five or six hour glucose tolerance test is performed. If the results suggest an unstable sugar response, then an antihypoglycemic diet might just solve the problem.

Karen